


Five seconds

by Cherisher



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Battles can be lost, Cities can be saved, Drabbles, F/M, Five Second Challenge, Five seconds but it feels like an eternity, Hearts can be broken, Wars can be won
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-08-08
Updated: 2017-08-08
Packaged: 2018-12-08 01:31:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,202
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11636154
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cherisher/pseuds/Cherisher
Summary: A lot can happen in five seconds.





	Five seconds

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chat Noir and Ladybug are on Patrol, they stop for a break and he mucks up, really bad.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Five Second Challenge!

The sentence came tumbling out of Chat's mouth. The black-clad hero instantly regretted it. His heart dropped into his stomach and the world around him froze. It was like a pause button was hit on a remote; the atmosphere becoming an absolute standstill. 

In his peripherals, he looked about. From a roof of the building, the view told a tale. Birds in the distance ceased their flight and hovered in mid-air, their wings fixated in their flapping motion. Leaves that once curled and twisted in the wind stopped moments before hitting the ground. Cars sat motionless in the streets. Random pedestrians were suspended with one foot outstretched as they crossed the busy street.

Everything just...  
Stopped.  
Including himself, he couldn't move.  
His mouth was still hissing out the last of the syllables when time froze around him.  
Only his mind was left; a constant in the abnormality of the freeze. It felt lucid, see everything in this unnatural arrested state.

Of course, none of this was actually happening. Time was not frozen and everything happened in real time, like usual.

However, to Chat Noir, it felt if his feelings of grief and regret stretched out the effects of time. It was reflexive, like an immediate self-acknowledgement to his foolishness. In this state, he could comprehend everything; he could see every fine detail, every fine feature, of the beautiful scenery. When he had made the demeaning remark, he was talking to the one person he didn't want to hear that comment...

Ladybug.

He was keenly aware of the situation he put himself in, he knew that was the wrong comment to make.

The bead of sweat that once rolled down his cheek now crawled at a snail's pace.

Being audience to your own demise is going to be terrifying.

But subconsciously, he accepted his fate. He deserved whatever came his way.

By his calculations, Chat Noir had mere seconds before he received the wrong end of a slap-across-the-face because of the comment he made. Time made no effort to speed up, and his entire body refused to move.  
So, he made the best of his current situation and did the only thing he could do. Wait patiently and merely watch the events play out.

Chat Noir started the all important countdown...

Five...

In this slow motion world, he saw many things. He could see Ladybug's nose flare out, prepared and ready to take the reactional gasp. He noticed the subtle lift of her chest as she sucked in a long and high pitch breath through her nose. He adored that little nose. He wanted nothing more than to stop everything and apologise, giving that nose sweet and gentle apology kisses. He wanted to forgive her with dozens of kisses, on her beautiful forehead, on her delightful freckles, on the rose-pink lips that drove him mad; he wanted to be able to step forward and pepper them all with his kind and soft touch.

Four...

Her eyes widened by millimetres and her eyebrows furrowed into distaste while she drew her gasp. He had seen that face too many times to know what it was. Her 'angry face'. His frozen body instantly felt another pang of regret pierce through his gut in slow motion. It was a lengthy pain, one that extended even further due to the freeze.  
He didn't mean the comment, but it had obviously hurt her personally. He saw her left-hand begin to curl into a ball, her other hand straighten out.  
He knew what happened next. His eyes followed the raising palm and then transitioned to the roll of her shoulder. She brought her striking hand back and was slowly raising it above her head. He was going to receive a slap across the face and he couldn't do anything about it. He knew everything he just said was a lie, he didn't mean a word. But his foolish actions merited correction, he was way out of line for saying that remark.

Three...

Only now did _his _body start to react in human response. He was powerless and he couldn't help it, his body moved on its own, he was a mere passenger on a road of fate. His brain, however, saw everything in high resolution and in this state of lengthened time, almost if in the third person.  
His eyelids droopily fell and his face slowly crunched up as he waited anxiously for the blow. His arms and fists pulled themselves instinctively towards his sides, ready to clench down against the pain he so rightly deserved. Soon his eyes were completely shut, clamped down hard as a blind fortress to the oncoming punishment. He couldn't see anything anymore, and it only made him more anxious. He felt time pick itself back up now, slowly growing faster.__

____

__

Two...

__

__  


Her arm had pulled back far enough, he could sense that slight frown she does when she's angry. That frown was deadly serious when she used it... and adorable, but mostly serious. With less than two seconds remaining, his body seized up, ready to absorb the impact.

__

__

_One..._

_The slap is imminent. Brace for the pain and hope for the best. Death should be swift and merciful._

  


__

Zero...

__

__  


* * *

  


__

When he didn't feel the smack across his face, he gradually cracked one eye open. Ladybug stood with hand raised high into the sky, poised and ready to strike. He flinched again. But the strike never came. Her quiet sobs brought Chat Noir back into reality, his body relaxed as he stepped forward to instinctively comfort her. Tears fell down her face as she uncontrollably welp, still holding hand high in the air. He gently placed a gloved hand on her left shoulder.

__

She snapped back at his touch and brought the hand down, her sobs immediately stopping as her hand made contact with his face. The tears didn't stop, even though she was angry again. She raised a finger and pointed adjectively up at him, letting out a frustrated and teary growl, "Don't you ever say you're worthless again Chat."

__

He stepped back with hand rubbing his face.

__

"Ever!" she shouted at him.

__

"I won't!" he quickly replied, dropping his hands together, pleading to his Lady. "I promise I will never say that again. Never in my life will I ever speak badly about myself again. Please, M'Lady. Please don't cry. "

__

She sniffed and wiped away the tears from her face, taking a sad and heavy sigh. She collected herself and nodded with dignity, "Thank you, Chat. I'm sorry that I hit you." she looked away into the distance as she tried to keep her composure, she even bit down on her lip. But she broke, and her face burned red with embarrassment. She quickly covered her face with her palms, "Oh, oh, oh, I am so, so, so sorry about that." she mumbled into her hands.

__

"I deserved it, Bugaboo," he said quietly. Chat Noir brought his hand up and rubbed his neck awkwardly with a nervous smile. "So... Yo... You still want to get dinner tonight?"

__

"Pfft, heck yeah," she wiped away the last of the tears and blew the rest of her emotions aside, "I really need food after that ordeal."

__

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Had fun with writing this one. Hope you enjoyed reading it!


End file.
